upset

comparative more upset · superlative most upset

1. predicativeAngry, distressed, or unhappy

   He was upset when she refused his friendship.

   2 more examples

   My children often get upset with their classmates.

   We were shocked when we asked a disruptive man in the front row to move to the back, and when he subsequently left, the producer's helpers were so upset for him they gave him two free tickets to the next 'women's music' production.

   1981 December 5, Jana Runnals, Rosemary Schonfeld, “The Liberalisation of 'Women's Music'”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 20, page 9

   Synonyms: sore, unstrung, angry, distressed and unhappy

2. Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.

   Bryan came home from school with an upset tummy.

   1 more example

   His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.

plural upsets

1. uncountableDisturbance or disruption.

   My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.

   Synonyms: disruption, disturbance, distraction

2. countablegovernmentAn unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.

   Sanders’s win in Michigan was one of the greatest upsets in modern political history.

   2016 March 9, Harry Enten, “What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means”, in FiveThirtyEight, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2016

   2 more examples

   But it is probably the biggest upset for the away side since Ronnie Radford smashed a famous goal as Hereford defeated Newcastle 2-1 in 1972.

   2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC

   The sudden rise of Shah’s party is a stunning upset for the small Himalayan country of 30 million wedged between India and China.

   2026 March 11, Chad de Guzman, “Who Is Balendra Shah, the Rapper On Track to Become Nepal’s Next Prime Minister”, in TIME, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2026

3. countableuncountableautomobileAn overturn.

   "collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.

4. countableuncountableAn upset stomach.

   “Bob, let's cancel the baby sitter. With this upset stomach, I can't go out tonight.” “Sure you can, Liz! Try Pepto-Bismol. Hospital tests prove it relieves upsets. And it's great for indigestion or nausea, too!”

   1958 May 12, Life, volume 44, number 19, advertisements, page 110

5. countableuncountablemathematicsAn upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.
6. countableuncountableaeronauticsThe dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of operation, possibly resulting in loss of control.

   The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the unfavorable interaction of severe vertical air drafts and large longitudinal control displacements resulting in a longitudinal upset from which a successful recovery was not made.

   1965 June 1, Civil Aeronautics Board, “Synopsis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Northwest Airlines, Inc., Boeing 720B, N724US, Near Miami, Florida, February 12, 1963, retrieved 25 Nov 2022, page 1

7. countableuncountableA woven row supporting the foundation rods for the uprights of a basket.

   Willow basket making, an artisan inserting bye-stakes in the upsets.

   1972, Nilima Roy, Basketry and Mat-weaving in India

present singular third person upsets · participle present upsetting

1. transitiveTo make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.

   I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.

   Synonyms: anger, distress, forset, sadden, affront, aggravate, anger, antagonize

2. transitiveTo disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).

   The fatty meat upset his stomach.

   1 more example

   Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.

   Synonyms: disrupt, disturb, forset, turn upside down, upend, derange

3. transitiveTo tip or overturn (something).

   1 more example

   1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristitle, Metaphysics, Book 1, Part 9, The Classical Library, Nashotah, Wisconsin, 2001. But this argument, which first Anaxagoras and later Eudoxus and certain others used, is very easily upset; for it is not difficult to collect many insuperable objections to such a view.

   Synonyms: invert, overturn, forset, tip, tip over, tip up, turn over, turn upside down

4. transitiveTo defeat unexpectedly.

   Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.

   Synonyms: upend

5. intransitiveTo be upset or knocked over.

   The carriage upset when the horse bolted.

   1 more example

   [T]he locomotive exploded and upset, and was completely wrecked.

   1880 January 1, The Locomotive, volume 1, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection And Insurance Company, page 9

6. obsoleteTo set up; to put upright.

   with sail on mast upset

   Synonyms: redress, right, stand

7. artsTo thicken and shorten a soft or heated piece of metal, by forging or hammering on the end, to shape, for example, rivets or internal combustion engine valves.
8. To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.
9. transitiveTo support with an upset (type of woven row).

   Very coarse work is sided up without an upsett, or is upsetted with a pair instead of a wale.

   2012, Thomas Okey, An Introduction to the Art of Basket-Making, page 32